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LAPPSET Play | eng

Safety zones and floor materials
A large percentage of accidents on playgrounds are the result
of play. This is why not all accidents can be prevented. The
most important thing in terms of safety is to remember that
playgrounds consist of a lot more than just the equipment. All
products need to be surrounded by a safety zone in any areas
where the potential fall height is more than 600 mm or where a
part of the product involves momentum, and this area needs to
have shock-absorbing safety surfacing. Although safety surfacing
cannot prevent accidents, it does protect children from serious
head injuries and lowers the severity of other injuries as well.
Instructions for the dimensions and overlap of safety zones
and for choosing ﬂoor materials are included in international
standards. The safety zones of adjoining equipment can overlap
as long as there is no momentum involved in using the products
like there is with swings, roundabouts and slides, for example.
Safety standards do not apply to benches, tables and rubbish
bins located in the vicinity of playground equipment. However,
such items should never be installed within a safety zone, or so
that they can be easily moved, or (as Tukes points out) so that
they can be used for climbing into a tree or over a fence. As long
as the target group is kept in mind during playground design,
the most serious risks associated with these structures can
nevertheless also be avoided.
According to Tukes guidelines, a playground must be provided
with a fence 120 cm high if there are risks in the surroundings
(such as busy roads or a lake or a river) that children need to be
protected from.
Combining play and fitness environments
Lappset has a solid understanding of how play and ﬁtness
environments can be combined without compromising the needs
of either user group. Combining areas designed for different
purposes is yet another step towards a future where playgrounds
genuinely function as meeting places for three different
generations. You can find more detailed information on how to
combine playgrounds and sports areas on the www.lappset.com
website.
Installation
Appropriate fencing is erected around playgrounds during
construction. All construction sites are ﬁrmly locked up especially
in the evenings and overnight. Children are prevented from
entering playgrounds until all equipment has been securely
installed and safety surfacing laid down.
Calculating safety zones and measuring gaps between
structural components is very important for safety.
The structural strength of a product is a combination of its
components and joints. This is why installation staff needs to
have sufficient know-how of the tightening torques of different
sized fasteners. Excessive tightening damages fastenings and
may compromise the structural strength of a product even before
it is ready for use.
All equipment and the surrounding area are inspected by
competent staff before a playground is opened to the public. A
signed report is produced of each inspection and kept with other
documents relating to the playground, including instructions
for installation, parts lists and maintenance logs. Inspectors
should not be involved in the installation process or be personally
responsible for the costs of repairing any faults in the equipment.
Old playgrounds
In principle, safety standards only apply to products installed
after the adoption of the standards. The EN 1176 and EN 1177
safety standards entered into force in 2008, and any equipment
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